Chelsea Peretti builds on "Parks and Recreation" job for touring gigs

Comedian Chelsea Peretti has written for sitcoms and magazines, but she's put that aside lately to focus on her stand-up career. (Provided by Chelsea Peretti)

When most of us think of the name Chelsea at least in a comedy context we think of Chelsea Handler, the stand-up who turned a bawdy late-night show into an multimedia entertainment empire.

But there's another Chelsea chipping away at the comedy big-time, and while she mines a similarly self-deprecating vein of humor, she has also carved out her own fiercely loyal audience.

It just happens to be a lot smaller.

"I never felt beloved by industry straight out of the gate," said Chelsea Peretti, a 34-year-old Oakland, Calif., native who came up in the bustling New York scene. "But I'm now realizing that those people are just regular people, and I'm starting to feel more support across the board."

A longtime crush for comedy nerds and critics, Peretti is breaking into the mainstream with spots on FX's acclaimed "Louie" as well as Comedy Central's "Tosh .0" and TruTV's "World's Dumbest ..." She's also chalked up stints as a writer for TV shows such as "The Sarah Silverman Show" and "Parks and Recreation" and publications from the Village Voice to Details and Playgirl.

We caught up wit! h her over the phone in advance of her headlining shows at Comedy Works on Larimer Square on Friday and Saturday.

Q:After years of being "The Next Big Thing" on critics' lists, do you feel like you're starting to get some mainstream traction?

A:Since I moved to L.A. about three years ago, I felt like a pretty significant shift in my life. But I think that from the outside looking in and I was just talking with (comedian) Nick Kroll about it the things that used to feel like this huge thing, we just do them in passing now.

Q:Do they still excite you?

A:I was really excited the other night because I did this Hurricane Sandy benefit, and Will Ferrell and Beck and Sarah Silverman and Aziz Ansari and Adam Scott were all there. It did feel like, "Oh, I'm doing my dreams now." Like, people I really admire were there, and I'm alongside them, and it was really exciting and cool.

Q:You also seem to be branching out into bigger markets with your touring, no doubt thanks to your podcast audience and TV gigs.

A:This is really the first time in my life where I'm traveling all over the country and there's people that are really excited at shows. When I first started headlining it was like, "Someone canceled, so OK, yeah, we'll give you a shot," and you go there and no one knows who you are. But now, when you walk out you can instantly feel people are specifically there for you.

Q:What do you think has been most helpful to your career lately?

A:It's not clear, but I think it's a combination of things. The "Louie" pilot re-aired recently, and I th! ink peopl! e are fans of the podcast or follow me on Twitter. Or doing Jeff Ross' show "The Burn," or Whitney (Cummings') show, or Nick Kroll's sketch show. I almost wanted to use the word "cross-pollination" there, but then I would have had to jump off the edge of a bridge. So for me, it's been combined persistence, a slow burn unlike a lot of friends who had huge successes early on.

Q:I'm sure that writing for "Parks and Recreation" didn't hurt.

A:I'm amazed how many "Parks and Rec" fans follow the writers. But I wasn't able to do any stand-up, and I really felt like I was growing with my stand-up, so it was a hard decision to leave. I loved that job. It was probably the most scary decision I have made. When you're starting out you're just so bursting to do everything, but I feel like as you get older you start to have a sense of, "I have to make choices." And I'm choosing stand-up right now.

John Wenzel: 303-954-1642, jwenzel@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johntwenzel

CHELSEA PERETTI. Stand-up comedy. 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Friday, 7:30 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Saturday. Comedy Works on Larimer Square, 1226 15th St. $23. 303-595-3637 or comedyworks.com.